Demolition of three aging apartment complexes on East Lamar Boulevard is expected to begin this month to make way for the planned $160 million Arlington Commons apartment complex, the developer said.

Asbestos abatement crews have been removing drywall and stucco at the Huntington Chase, Pointe of North Arlington and Countrywood apartment complexes between Rolling Hills Country Club and Lincoln Drive, JCKPL President Robert Kembel said. Demolition is set to begin in mid-September and be complete in early 2015.

“By the end of March, I expect they will all be down,” Kembel said.

Arlington Commons, to be completed in five phases over the next 15 years, will eventually include 1,600 apartment units in buildings up to five stories.

Kembel said he expects to present the development plan for the 350-unit first phase to the city this fall. That phase, which includes transforming the median on Lamar Boulevard in front of the complex into a landscaped linear park, is expected to take two years to build, he said.

“The median is the commons,” Kembel said. “It’s a very important part of our vision for the site.”

Initially, construction was expected to begin next January.

“We’re behind schedule. I just don’t have the architecture exactly where I want it yet,” Kembel said. “It’s got to be really good. It’s getting closer.”

Asbestos abatement and demolition of the existing complexes are expected to cost more than $3 million, Kembel said.

To help make the project more economically feasible, the City Council has approved nearly $10.5 million in possible economic development incentives plus a 30-year 90 percent property tax abatement.

Incentives include up to $3.8 million in grants for plan development and costs for demolition and abatement, $400,000 for drainage improvements and $250,000 to improve the entrance to the adjacent Rolling Hills Country Club.

JCKPL is also developing the Viridian master-planned community, which will eventually have 3,500 single-family homes and 1,500 condos, town houses and apartments, in far north Arlington. The Greater Fort Worth Builders Association will hold its annual Kaleidoscope of Homes luxury home show there in October.

Kembel said all the major dirt work needed for the development is under contract to be completed within 18 months. The community will celebrate the grand opening of its Lake Club, an amenity center with four pools, this fall.